Biotech firm shelves GM crop

Green and consumer groups have claimed one of their greatest successes in a decade as the German biotech company Bayer withdrew its application to grow a variety of genetically modified maize in Britain, saying that government constraints had made the crop uneconomic.

Although Bayer said it was committed to growing GM crops in Britain, none is likely for at least four years. The decision will embarrass the British Government, which only three weeks ago gave the firm permission to grow the maize for two years, and which has battled GM opponents for the crops to be introduced for more than seven years. No other crops are in the regulatory pipeline, and few GM firms are expected to apply to grow them in Britain, which has a reputation as "GM unfriendly".

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs shrugged off Bayer's decision. "We do not apologise for the fact there is a tough EU-wide regulatory regime on GMs. This is a commercial decision and Bayer have decided to withdraw their application."

Anti-GM groups and opposition parties called on the Government to review its strategy.

"This is the death knell in the short term for GM crops in Britain. The only GM crop with a government green light now doesn't even have the support of its manufacturer," said a Greenpeace spokesman. Michael Meacher, a former environment minister and a leading GM critic, said: "The Government has been saved from itself and the electoral furore which would have followed (GM) licensing."

Andrew George, the Liberal Democrat Party's rural affairs spokesman, accused biotech firms of wanting the profit but not the problems of GM crops. "Bayer's decision now gives ministers time to get it right on GMs... research on scientific gaps must be commissioned while the Government consults properly with all parties."

There was intense speculation about why Bayer withdrew. The firm cited government constraints, but no decisions had been made on distances separating conventional and GM crops, or about who should compensate farmers for genetic "pollution".

Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace said that the GM crop, Chardon LL, might have been withdrawn because it was widely considered outdated. Vivian Moses, the director of the biotech industry lobby group CropGen agreed. "New maize strains have a commercial life of five years and Chardon was already old hat," he said.

Bayer CropScience spokesman Julian Little, said: "We hope the UK will be able to benefit from the opportunity afforded by this technology some time in the future."